Some 700 United States Marines prepared to deploy to Los Angeles on Monday, gearing up to relieve some of the 2,000 National Guardsmen who had been in the city since the early morning hours on Sunday.

Just over one hour after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly announced their mobilization, the U.S. Northern Command shared photos of the Marines who were preparing to go.

“Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, who were placed in an alert status over the weekend to support #USNORTHCOM mission, prepare to depart for the greater Los Angeles area June 9,” the caption read. The attached photos showed Marines preparing several tactical vehicles and some training with riot shields ahead of their deployment.

Approximately 700 Marines from Marine Corps Combat Center Twentynine Palms(@MCAGCC29Palms), California will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area

— U.S. Northern Command (@USNorthernCmd) June 9, 2025

“Approximately 700 Marines from Marine Corps Combat Center Twentynine Palms(@MCAGCC29Palms), California will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area,” the follow-up post continued.

Hegseth announced their deployment as rioters continued to direct violent attacks at local law enforcement and federal agents — and destroy public and private property — despite President Donald Trump’s decision to mobilize the California National Guard.

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“Due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order. We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers — even if Gavin Newsom will not,” Hegseth posted via X.

Due to increased threats to federal law enforcement officers and federal buildings, approximately 700 active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order.

We have an obligation to defend federal law enforcement officers – even if Gavin…

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) June 9, 2025

Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell followed with an update, saying that President Trump had ordered the deployment of another 2,000 California National Guard troops.

“At the order of the President, the Department of Defense is mobilizing an additional 2,000 California National Guard to be called into federal service to support ICE & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties,” he posted.

At the order of the President, the Department of Defense is mobilizing an additional 2,000 California National Guard to be called into federal service to support ICE & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties.

— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) June 10, 2025

Anti-ICE rioters, according to the latest reports from the Los Angeles Police Department, have been coordinating their efforts in part by communicating via two-way radios to share the locations of and actions taken by law enforcement, military, and federal agents.

Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin shared the latest details he’d received from the LAPD in an X post on Monday, reporting that dozens had already been arrested on a number of different charges and that at least five officers and police department horses had been injured while attempting to quell the unrest.

“NEW: LAPD announces that they made 50 arrests during the riots over the weekend, including charges for attempted murder w/ a Molotov cocktail, & assault w/ a deadly weapon on an officer. Five officers and five LAPD horses have sustained minor injuries, and crowds were using hand held radios to communicate law enforcement movements to eachother, LAPD says,” Melugin posted.

NEW: LAPD announces that they made 50 arrests during the riots over the weekend, including charges for attempted murder w/ a Molotov cocktail, & assault w/ a deadly weapon on an officer. Five officers and five LAPD horses have sustained minor injuries, and crowds were using hand…

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 9, 2025

The LAPD’s confirmation of coordinated action among the protesters lent credence to multiple reports claiming that the riots only look chaotic on the surface — and that underneath, they are well-organized and well-funded and being executed by people who have been well-trained.

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“LAPD firing rubber bullets at rioters who have removed the pink park benches to use as shields. If you just spend 2 minutes watching these ppl you can see they are trained and organized. They know what they’re doing,” Kira Davis posted.

LAPD firing rubber bullets at rioters who have removed the pink park benches to use as shields. If you just spend 2 minutes watching these ppl you can see they are trained and organized. They know what they’re doing. pic.twitter.com/VVqI8k1DzN

— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) June 9, 2025

Retired Army Colonel Kurt Schlicter assessed the situation in a Townhall column published Monday, where he said that the chaos was all just “an illusion” meant to scare and intimidate people into compliance.

“This is not a battle of cops versus rioters; it is a battle between narratives. Most people see regime media video of Third World savages waving the tacky banners of their garbage homelands, lighting fires, hassling cops, and doing other things consistent with being barbarians, and think that Los Angeles is in chaos and therefore get scared,” Schlicter wrote. “The idea behind this color revolution – it is organized and planned, not spontaneous or genuine – is to intimidate normal people into submitting and embracing the politicians associated with its goals in the hopes that it will stop. This is the work of the Democrat Party; the rioters are its useful idiots, acting to support the party’s goals while it’s maintaining deniability.”

A thread from @wokal_distance laid out the strategies employed by coordinated protests — strategies designed first to ultimately ensure that law enforcement has no reasonable alternative to using force, and then to ensure that when they do use force, they are on camera and the protesters on the front lines put the most sympathetic faces possible (babies, the elderly) on the movement.

“The riots happening in LA are not organic or spontaneous. They’re designed to look chaotic to cover up the fact that they’re well funded, exceptionally organized, and carried out by well trained activists using intelligent, highly developed tactics,” the thread began.

1/
The riots happening in LA are not organic or spontaneous.

They’re designed to look chaotic to cover up the fact that they’re well funded, exceptionally organized, and carried out by well trained activists using intelligent, highly developed tactics.

Here’s a primer: pic.twitter.com/ZxZ7x71R65

— Wokal Distance (@wokal_distance) June 9, 2025

Another thread from @datarepublican explored who was the funding the riots, naming the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights or CHIRLA, and PSLWEB / Party for Socialism and Liberation, among others.

A number of NGOs have been implicated in this. Foremost is Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights or CHIRLA, and the photos of signs show they were printed by PSLWEB / Party for Socialism and Liberation. pic.twitter.com/yS7jXkHGJ8

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 8, 2025